Photo Credit: Alex Carroll, Monarch Joint Venture
The Integrated Monarch Monitoring Program (IMMP) plays a vital role in understanding monarchs and efforts to conserve them across North America. The IMMP collects information on monarch presence, habitat use, and the habitat characteristics of a site. It can be used on specific random sites to build a representative picture of monarch habitat, or at self-selected sites for monitoring a site of interest. By evaluating the effectiveness of habitat management practices and contributing to a national, shareable dataset, the IMMP helps researchers and land managers understand how monarch populations and their habitats are changing over time.
At its Prairie Oaks Campus, the Monarch Joint Venture (MJV) has been working to restore and enhance pollinator habitat. As part of this effort, we utilized the IMMP protocol to assess the effectiveness of our restoration work and establish a valuable reference point before those efforts commenced.
On August 20, 2025, we conducted our first-ever IMMP survey in a 3-acre field that was historically wheatgrass (also called kernza) and currently in a pollinator-friendly cover crop. This survey is an important step in accurately measuring future changes. We documented 17 blooming forbs, including 3 native and 14 non-native species. Of particular interest to us, not surprisingly, is milkweed, which is necessary for monarchs to reproduce. Although no common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) was planted in the cover crop, we found a density of 121 stems per acre. Of the 44 milkweed plants searched for monarch eggs and larvae, we found 14 eggs and 4 larvae. During our 500-meter survey walk, we observed 4 adult monarchs. These findings suggest that Prairie Oaks already had great potential for pollinator habitat.
We plan to repeat this survey each year at the same location. This consistent monitoring will help us determine whether our restoration efforts are improving habitat quality and supporting monarch populations over time. The site’s enhancement, coming fall 2025, will include a high-diversity native pollinator seed mix. The mix includes 68 species of grasses and forbs, including both familiar and less commonly planted but highly valuable species such as wood betony (Stachys officinalis), field thistle (Cirsium discolor), and early figwort (Scrophularia lanceolata). Additional common milkweed, as well as butterfly weed (A. tuberosa), tall green milkweed (A. hirtella), and whorled milkweed (A.virticillata) will be included in a forthcoming seeding. In early October, we also added three flats of meadow blazing star (Liatris ligulistylis), planting them in large patches throughout the field.
We will use the IMMP to document changes in key metrics, such as blooming plant availability and timing of monarch reproduction. Comparing pre- and post-restoration data is one of the most useful ways to learn which conservation practices have the greatest impact and to continue improving habitat for monarchs and other pollinators.
While our IMMP monitoring journey at Prairie Oaks is just beginning, across the country, other organizations have also been using the IMMP protocol to better understand how restoration efforts benefit monarchs and other pollinators. An example of this comes from the Friends of the Mississippi River (FMR), whose implementation of the IMMP protocol shows how community science and habitat restoration go hand in hand.
We interviewed Dr. Julia Leone, Pollinator Biologist at the Friends of the Mississippi River (FMR) and an MJV partner, to learn more about their experience using the IMMP protocol at several restoration sites. FMR has been using MJV's Monarch Larva Monitoring Project (MLMP) protocol since 2017; recently, they introduced three new monitoring sites, each representing different restoration sizes. At the largest site, they established six IMMP plots across different 30-acre management units, each representing unique seeding methods and levels of seed diversity. The medium-sized site is still undergoing active restoration, and IMMP plots there are being used to track changes in monarch and milkweed presence across its various restoration phases. The smallest site hosts five plots, nearly covering the entire site, where they planted several milkweed species in different plots, including common, whorled, butterfly, and swamp milkweed.
All the IMMP efforts by the Friends of the Mississippi River (FMR) are volunteer-driven. This year, over 27 volunteers participated. Monitoring usually begins in late May through the first week of September, though it may be extended to better capture migration timing and late-season activity. This year, many volunteers were surprised by how tall the milkweed grew and how densely eggs were clustered on certain plants, sometimes as many as 6 to 10 eggs on a single stem, far higher than expected.
Dr. Leone noted that their decision to adopt the IMMP protocol lies in its standardized, widely used approach that ensures high-quality data collection. As well as the IMMP’s variety of activity options, robust training resources and well-designed data portal make it an ideal fit for their volunteer base. Most importantly, it connects their local monitoring work to broader conservation science at a national level. The data volunteers collect through IMMP is valuable for demonstrating the benefits of habitat restoration. FMR values being part of a larger, shared monitoring network and how their local data contributes to national-scale research on monarch populations and habitat trends. Dr. Leone mentioned that beyond science, IMMP also brings people together; it connects volunteers to the land, empowers them through meaningful conservation action, and transforms community participation into real contributions to the conservation of monarchs and other pollinators.
Overall, the IMMP program enables landowners, organizations, and land managers to assess how their conservation actions are impacting monarchs over time. Because of IMMP’s flexibility to work on random and self-selected sites, participants can directly track the outcomes of habitat management on sites of interest to them - and even compare them to sites with different, or no, management activity. IMMP’s data on milkweed density, nectar resources, and monarch use across life stages helps identify what strategies are working, where adjustments are needed, and how habitat quality is changing locally.
Beyond one’s individual site, each monitoring effort contributes to a larger national dataset that offers powerful insights at regional and continental scales. Data are used by researchers, community scientists, and conservation partners to explore trends across time, geography, and land-use types, helping to build a clearer picture of how monarch habitat is distributed and changing nationwide.
By connecting local habitat management with national-scale outcomes, IMMP ensures that conservation lands not only improve conditions on-site but also inform nationwide monarch conservation strategies. Click here to learn more!